Yet more maternity questions!

[oopsacoconut]

Hi all,

Am due to start maternity leave on the 11 August ( and taking 2 weeks a/l beforehand)I gave my boss my matb1 at 25 weeks - am I supposed to have heard anything back? Also as a side - they keep asking me for a firm return date I said I didn't know as I wasn't sure how I would feel once I have bubs. o I have to give them one? I hinted I needed at least 6months but possibly the whole year and they went nuts? Then tried to refuse to pay me for anenatal appointments, can they do this? I am a nanny and don't want to cause too much turbulence as I don't want to risk my relationship with the kids (I have looked after them both since birth one is 8 and the other is 4).

Can anyone help?

Sorry your employers are being so unhelpful! There is a detailed document here that covers everything you need to know about maternity leave.

You are entitled to reasonable time off, and you can take up to a year's maternity leave if you want to. You can then change your mind and come back earlier too, but you do have to give notice.

HTH.

Sorry,I've got overdue pregnancy brain... I mean that you are entitled to reasonable time off (paid) for antenatal appointments, and that you should give a date for return to work, which you are allowed to change if you give the appropriate notice. The link covers all the basic rights & responsibilities.

oopsacoconut an employer should not press you for a return date. They should give you a return date of whatever date it would be a year after you start your leave. If at any point you decide you want to actually return earlier than that, you must give notice as dramaqueen says. But you are under absolutely no obligation to say so at this point.

Some people do, but huge numbers of people change their mind about their plans once the baby arrives anyway, so any indication given should you chose to do so should be taken as an indication only, not a firm intention.

And yes they must give you reasonable paid time off for antenatal appointments, they can ask to see an appointment card if they want to.

This from directgov is nice and straightforward about taking maternity leave. As you can see, you have to tell your employer that you are taking maternity leave and when from, and they must tell you when it ends (52 weeks after it starts).

Thanks All for your help, now know where I stand and can argue my side with information rather than face them blindly with no idea what i am talking about.

hi there, i need some advice, i'm due to take maternity at the end of september but i'm not sure if i'll be returning back to work after the little 1's born, will i have to pay back the maternity pay that i receive if i don't return? any1 please help:-)

Hi Sami - what you need to pay back would depend on your employer's maternity pay scheme - you do not need to pay any Statutory Maternity Pay back but if your employer pays you any Additional Maternity Pay on top of SMP, they could ask for it back if you don't return - but they should make that clear to you before you start your maternity leave - it may be their maternity policy if they have one or else HR should know.